JOHANNESBURG - The African National Congress (ANC) in Rustenburg says its control of the municipality once again shows that the organisation has not betrayed the people and has been entrusted with alleviating poverty.

Yesterday, Mpho Khunou was reinstalled as mayor for a second time, while party member Sheila Mabalahume was elected as speaker

The day got off to a rocky start, with clashes between the ANC and Economic Freedom Fighters which resulted in at least one ANC member being stabbed outside the civic centre.

There are conflicting reports on what caused the altercation, with the red berets claiming the fight was between ANC members.

The ANC in Rustenburg's Suzan Dantjie says they will continue with programmes implemented in their previous term

"The mayor has been there for the last five years with the people of Rustenburg, they know him. He's the people's person. He has been delivering and he's just going to rework on the programmes that have been there."

The national ANC has condemned the violence in Rustenburg and has called for a zero tolerance attitude towards people, including their own members.

The governing party in the province says it has always been willing to work with other political parties to improve service delivery, while the opposition says it will strengthen its role as a watchdog.

The red berets say while they accept defeat, they believe the absence of some members during today's vote could have swung the result in a different way.

The EFF's Betty Diale said they are now weighing their options after today's result.

"Not all members that we expected will be voting with us as the opposition [did so]. For example, we had Black Consciousness Movement who didn't vote and we have another councillor, who we can't identify at this stage, who also did not vote with the EFF and the opposition."